The List of Aristotelian Types of Motion and Its Extension in De duabus in Christo voluntatibus of John Damascene

Abstract

John Damascene’s use of philosophical logic in his theological treatises has remained a somewhat unclear subject. We know that John compiled purely logical and philosophical works, such as the Institutio Elementaris and the Dialectica. But it is not clear how much, if at all, John’s purely philosophical projects contributed to his later theological work. In order to illuminate the issue, I shall take under investigation the Damascene’s implementation of the Aristotelian types of motion that are clearly found both in John’s philosophic and in his theological works. One of his theological works in which the Aristotelian types of motion are used in tandem with the intelligible motion is the De duabus in Christo voluntatibus. Taking this Christological work as a starting point, this article aims to shed light on the potential sources behind the Damascene’s use of the different types of motion and the significance thereof for his arguments against Monothelitism and Monoenergism.